For Sony DKC-ID1 and Mavica Still Camerasand many popular 8mm, Hi8 and MiniDV CamcordersThis is the $49 Sima SPM13 "smart" charger, it can rapid charge your 3.6v and 7.2v Canon, Hitachi, JVC, Panasonic, RCA, Sanyo, Sharp and Sony Lithium Ion (Li ion) batteries with the precision that only today's microprocessor technology can provide.Charging is controlled using peak voltage to guarantee full charging of battery packs. Abnormal battery detection is also provided to identify "bad" battery packs and the user is alerted by six rapid beeps of the charger. Here's a closeup of the LEDs on the SPM13 charger. When you insert the battery it will beep and the appropriate voltage (3.6 or 7.2) light will come on to let you know it is charging. During charging the green "Charge" light comes on and when it is fully charged the red "Full" LED will illuminate and the unit will beep again.Charge time is completely

The Electric Fuel Corporation offers a line of batteries for use with many of the Nikon and Sony digital cameras. (Batteries for Kodak, Olympus and Polaroid cameras in December 2001). These are not rechargeable batteries, they're zinc-air batteries with a 3 year shelf life. They cost $19.95 which is a fraction of the cost of the standard rechargeable battery pack.I wouldn't run my camera on one of these all the time but I would recommend buying one and sticking it in your camera bag. No matter how many sets of batteries you have there's always that one time when you really need it and all of them are dead. That's when you tear open the aluminum bag and pull out your Instant Power battery, plug it in and you're good to go for up to 10 hours ... vacation saved! Each Instant Power Battery comes hermetically sealed in one of these aluminum bags.

My good friends at Thomas Distributing just sent me a couple of their newest NiMH/NiCd battery chargers. They don't plug in the wall though, these are solar powered. I'm a big fan of anything "green" so I was thrilled to see these nifty solar-powered battery chargers. CPG-04041This is the ICPG-04041 battery charger/eliminator, it sells for just $37.90 (batteries not included).It's capable of generating up to 500mA of 6 or 12 VDC power in direct sun. The top tilts so you can keep it properly aimed at the sun and it has a builtin carrying handle for convenience. Inside is a charging position for four AA-size batteries and an additional storage (non-charge) area for a second set of batteries.It has a cigarette lighter output plug and a switch to set the voltage for 6V or 12V. A red LED lights up according to how much power is being generated. Charges 4 AA rechargeable batteries in as

Many of today's digital cameras and other consumer electronic devices are designed to be powered by two or four AA type batteries. A good number of these devices can also be powered by one or two CR-V3 lithium batteries as well. These Li-ion batteries offer greater power output than NiMH rechargeables and can hold their charge for a much longer period of time and they're also lighter in weight. Until recently the only type of CR-V3 batteries were expensive (approx. $9-10 ea.), one-use disposables, but that is now changing.Power Vision in Taiwan is the first company to begin marketing their rechargeable CR-V3 Li-ion batteries. This mini-review focuses on their RCR-V3 outfit that includes the rechargeable CR-V3 battery, charger and AC power supply. The U.S. distributor for these batteries is BatteryX.com, the outfit as shown above retails for $69, additional RCR-V3 batteries are $39 each.Can your camera (or device) use the

The Lenmar Mach1 Speed Charger was designed to safely rapid charge the 7.2-7.4V lithium rechargeable batteries used in many camcorders and digital cameras. The chargers supplied by the manufacturers for these cameras take anywhere from two to four hours to charge the supplied low-capacity battery packs. The Mach1 Speed Charger can fully charge the same battery packs in 30 to 50 minutes, the higher capacity "long duration" packs can be charged in 50 to 110 minutes.Besides being able to recharge your battery packs in half (or less) the time of your current charger, the Mach1 Speed Charger is supplied with both a 100-240V AC power transformer and a 12V DC car power cord. Charge your batteries at home or on the go !For those people that have both a camcorder and a still digital camera that uses a lithium battery packs, you can charge them both with the same charger. See below